The puppies are living in a kennel with a big outdoor area since 3 weeks old. They have a dog house, a balancing pillow, a small see-saw, some crates, tunnels and tons of toys in there just like before, thrown around or hung up. They spend a part of the day there, and a couple hours in the garden and in the house.I take one or two pups in with me at the same time, where they can meet some household surfaces, objects and noises, thus receiving more and more stimuli.The period starting from 3 weeks is not to be missed, it's a crucial time for socialization, and I try to come up with new ideas for the puppies every day, I can't stop thinking about this. And I also neglect nothing that was done so far.

Why? Because the most influential part of the time, that the puppies spend with me is between 3 to 6 weeks. Fear is not present in newborn puppies. Only in the 5th week of their lives do they develop the skills of fear, and it increases gradually until it escalates in the fear imprint period during the eighth week. However, up to the 8. week, the natural curiosity towards the new and unknown outweighsthe fear.Anything the puppy is exposed to between this timeframe will therefore be associated with low anxiety. It will be permanently ingrained in the central nervous system and forever remembered as something that is pleasant or neutral because happening when it does it is interpreted as a non fearful, non anxiety evoking object or experience. This is the time we look at the possibilities of what the puppy may encounter later in life and ensure he is incrementally exposed to the stimuli during this timeframe. (Source: www.puppyprodigies.org)

They spend the night in the lobby. I avoid using the whelping box now, because they climb out of it very easily, and I am also trying to potty train them. It seems quite manageable, I open the door, make some sound or clap my hands and they follow me to the garden, where they do their business and play a bit. Then I go into the house the same way and they follow me again. The results are not 100% but they are very smart and I feel they are starting to understand what's the point of this.

Now they are carrying their toys around, they chew, tear and shake. They play with each other much more actively too, with lots of growling and biting and they also started to herd each other or me a few days ago.